Sweet itch/ crusty ears- allergy?

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VikkiL

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Hi

Was after an opinion. I brought my horse in 2000 as a 4 year old. He is now 16 years old.

Last year, for the first time he developed severe sweet itch. The vet had a look and agreed it was sweet itch. It cleared up over winter but came back around march time this year and is quite severe again. We seem to finally hve gotten it under control - not quite so many bald patches along his mane and tail.

The last couple of weeks he has started headshaking, I pressumed he was getting irritated by flies. He's now started rubbing his ears badly and upon looking inside they are very crusty- one far worse than the other.

I obv will call a vet out, but was wondering if this sounded like an allergy- not long before the sweet itch started I moved half way across the country and brought him with me- he is now kept on a working farm. Is it likely that he could be allergic to a crop of the farmers? Up until last year he was very healthy with no problems?

Thanks for reading
 
Crusty ears does sound more like an allergy than sweet itch..yes.
My cob has severe sweet itch and although he rubs his ears they are never crusty.
I would suggest a hood of some kind and see if it improves...other than that could he have an infection from a sore from the rubbing?

Is it definitely sweet itch he has? I know some supposed sweet itch sufferers turn out to have an allergy of another kind....grass, cereals etc.

How are you treating the sweet itch? If he is already covered from head to tail, I would definitely queary another possible cause.
 
Try Feeding MSM. It is a natural powerful anti inflammatory and as a scavenger goes to the site it is needed. With what you aer describing it sounds like he possibly has an allergy, but equally the flies are very bad at the moment.
MSM has amazing qualities for dampening itching and allergic reactions and is relatively cheap to feed so well worth a try. I would also put a fly mask on that covers his ears to relieve any possible irritation from flies.
I hope you find a solution for him
 
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